Let’s go to the video.
Three crooks were caught in the act on a neighbor’s security camera Aug. 29 while burglarizing a home in the 8000 block of Marina Isles in Holmes Beach.
The camera recorded three suspects pulling up to the home, loading two large freezers in the back of a white Dodge pickup. They returned to the same home shortly after and entered the garage, taking more than $13,000 worth of assorted fishing gear and tools.
According to Holmes Beach detective Sgt. Brian Hall, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office spotted the pickup, which previously had been reported stolen, arrested three people found in the vehicle Sept. 1 and impounded the vehicle.
Hall was able to make a positive identification of the vehicle after reviewing it in the MCSO impound lot Sept. 5.
Finding the pickup, combined with the assistance of the surveillance footage, brings Hall one step closer to identifying the burglary suspects.
Hall said there are witnesses to the theft that have agreed, if needed, to identify the suspects in a photo lineup.
The burglary took place around 3:15 p.m., the HBPD incident report stated. The homeowners placed two large freezers on the curb to be picked up by Waste Management. They filled out a WM form for special pickup.
Hall said a WM management employee arrived to pick up the freezers, but there was a discrepancy on the form, and the employee was unsure he was at the correct address. The employee’s supervisor was called, and the supervisor determined he would handle the pickup.
As the supervisor arrived, he saw the suspects in the white truck loading the freezers into the back of the pickup, Hall said. The supervisor left the scene.
While picking up the freezers may have meant an early day for the WM supervisor, the $13,000 of stolen fishing gear and tools amount to felony counts for the suspects.
The suspects entered the home’s closed garage to gain access to the tools and fishing gear. The surveillance footage clearly shows fishing poles sticking out of the bed of the pickup as it leaves the scene as well as one of the suspects riding in the truck bed to prevent the gear from falling off the truck.
As of Islander press time, the suspects in the burglary had yet to be named or arrested. However, the stolen pickup truck was located and its occupants arrested.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed and still following up on leads with possible witnesses,” Hall said. “We still need to have them identified.”